The Mortgage Report: Jan. 4, 2021 2020 was a year that took pleasure in humiliating forecasters. From the remarkable bounce in housing, to the resilience of mortgage volumes, to the devastation in big-city rental markets, to the homeowner exodus from urban cores to the lows of contract mortgage rates, to the persistence of high qualifying rates — 2020 made the...
“Vaccines have come too late to avoid a bleak winter,” said Capital Economics in a report last week. The market agrees. Canada’s two-year bond yield, often used to forecast Bank of Canada rate policy, hit a record low on Thursday. That coincides with recent BoC comments that it could cut the overnight rate by less than the standard 25 basis...
Only fools lock in for a decade. That’s what many thought prior to this year, and some still do. But at least now it’s more debatable. That’s because, for the first time ever, there’s a 10-year mortgage with a 1-handle. On Monday, a few mortgage brokers started advertising a 1.99% 10-year fixed, breaking Tangerine’s prior record of 2.14%. The move...
Quick Rundown Today’s Announcement:No change to rates Overnight rate:0.25% Prime Rate:2.45% (also no change; seePrime Rate) Market Rate Forecast:No BoC hikes until at least 2023 BoC’s Headline Quote: “The Governing Council will hold the policy interest rate at the effective lower bound until economic slack is absorbed so that the 2% inflation target is sustainably achieved.” BoC on the Economy:...
—The Mortgage Report: Nov. 30— Trudeau’s government said Monday that it plans to lift Canada’s debt ceiling by up to 57% as it embarks on record spending and deficits in the name of pandemic relief. Canada’s historic deficit just keeps on climbing. It’s now estimated at $381.6 billion for the current fiscal year, up from $343.2 billion this summer and...
—The Mortgage Report: Nov. 17— Remember that rate: 8 3/4%? Your average first-time buyer wouldn’t, as he/she would’ve been just seven years old at the time (1991). 8.75% was a tremendous 1-year fixed rate back then. But man, did it take a bite out of people’s budgets. Consider that on a standard $100,000 mortgage, you would’ve paid: $811 a month,...
—The Mortgage Report: Weekend Edition— Canada’s rate outlook got a boost this week from two influential developments: Promising vaccine news (20 potential vaccines are in late-stage trials, including Pfizer’s drug that’s reportedly over 90% effective), and The widespread acceptance of Joe Biden’s presidential victory. This much-needed dose of good news led investors to sell government bonds, which is typical when...
The Latest on Canadian Mortgage Rates: Election 2020 —10:33 p.m. Update— Biden is just 6 electoral votes from victory, reports AP. It’s never over till it’s over, but thus far election 2020 doesn’t look like a threat to mortgage rates. Yields have trended lower, suggesting that borrowing costs in Canada won’t be adversely impacted like they were after Trump’s 2016...
—The Mortgage Report: Oct. 29— 1.29% is now the variable rate to beat, in Ontario at least. This new rate is: effectively equivalent to prime – 1.16%, a discount we haven’t seen since the COVID implosion last March 11 bps below the lowest 5-year fixed in the province (that being 1.40% for default-insured mortgages). Unfortunately, 1.29% is only available on...
Quick Rundown Today’s Announcement:No change to rates Overnight rate:0.25% Prime Rate:2.45% (also no change; seePrime Rate) Market Rate Forecast:No BoC hikes until at least 2023 BoC’s Headline Quote: “The Governing Council will hold the policy interest rate at the effective lower bound until economic slack is absorbed so that the 2% inflation target is sustainably achieved. In our current projection,...
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